Amazing
by Allume a Pense
Summary: [for the HLM, HLMN fic exchnage. sorry it's late!] A tradition at East High blooms into the perfect chance for that onstage confession that the school is craving for [for Amandeezy, with love]


**Love Note: **Happy Valentine's Day, everybody! It's such a romantic day, and it's story-central for us here in the High School Musical section, huh. I figured.

This is for the He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not Fic. Exchange created by dwilivia. I hope everyone, especially my receiver (Amanda), enjoys the story and hope a little something like this happens at your school. Enjoy.

P.S. Sorry this is a little late. My computer wasn't working.

--

_to Amandeezy  
__love; Kat _

--

A red tulip is the symbol of eternal love, yet somehow, many seemed too hyped up on the classic beauty of a single red rose to even think about the tulip. Everywhere around East High in Albuquerque, New Mexico, guys were handing red roses to the girl they loved in the hallway – it seemed to make the already-red themed school even brighter with crimson. Girls tried their best to impress the boys they sought after, dressing in red high heels, sparkling sequin tops and dresses, and silver dangling earrings against a soft background of curls. Gabriella had not anticipated everyone to model their hairstyle after hers.

Gabriella Montez was different from the rest of East High. After the three month period where she seemingly reigned the school, being Troy's best friend-who-is-a-girl, she just blended right back into the crowd. No one seemed to care all that much that she hung out with the most popular guy in school, because that doesn't make her automatic queen. No, you'd need something better, like becoming Troy's girlfriend. That would make you East High royalty.

But Gabriella wasn't Troy's girlfriend. She was a plain-Jane among a crowd of stunningly beautiful girls, in their romantic outfits. The only thing she had was her curly hair, but she had those everyday. No one had told her that she was supposed to dress in an amazing outfit. It seemed like no one had told _anyone_, like they just knew, like it was a given rule. _You must dress beautifully on February 14th, Valentine's Day. _

Gabriella sighed, looking around in the crowded hallway, as she set her bag down in front of her locker. Dejectedly, she twisted her lock open. She didn't even notice that the lockers were temporarily covered in red wrapping paper. Unexpectedly, a few Valentine's cards fluttered out onto the ground. A custom in East High was you gave Valentine's cards to _everyone _you were friends with, be it a girl or a guy. So, her stash of cards held one from Taylor, one from Sharpay and Ryan, one from Chad, one from Zeke, and even one from Troy. Basically, they all stated the same thing: "Hope you have a happy Valentine's day!". Gabriella smiled slightly, loving to know the fact that her friends still liked her.

She was still miserable on the inside, however. _I bet even __Taylor__ got dressed up, _she sighed inwardly as she continued to stash away her things. Luckily for her, the whole school day was fun activities and games that had to relate to love, somehow. She ran her fingers over the matte finish of the front of her journal. The binding to this notebook was the binding to her life – it held her innermost secrets. After she finished putting away her books, she tossed her bag inside and laid a hand on the side of the locker. Surprisingly, there was already a hand in that space.

Jumping a little in fright, Gabriella looked over to see none other than Troy Bolton, smiling at her with his signature cheeky grin that made most girls swoon. She couldn't help but smile at his very festive outfit. He wore a white T-shirt with a note written in red letters: "Love Bites", and dark blue jeans. Noticing she was going down, she continued until she reached the floor, where she saw cherry red colored Converse shoes. Gabriella laughed.

"Morning!" she chirped, feeling suddenly light-hearted. "Nice outfit, Dr. Love. Especially adore the shoes." She teased playfully. "I pretty much imagined you as more of an Adidas guy than Converse, but hey, it's Valentine's Day. Everyone goes crazy."

"Thanks, Miss Independent." Troy taunted back, overlooking her outfit. "You don't have much Wildcat spirit running through your blood, do you?" he laughed a bit. Gabriella folded her arms across her chest and turned her head to look somewhere else.

"I didn't get the memo we were all supposed to schedule a time to get bitten by the love bug." She huffed. "Besides, everyone here is dressed so fancily. And they all curled their hair, isn't that crazy? I guess love makes you do crazy things." She looked down, then back up to his face with a flustered, mocking smile. "Like wear Converse when you're obviously Adidas. Who's the lucky girl?"

"No one." Troy said simply, now taking Gabriella's spot and looking somewhere to the side of him. "I'm waiting until the love note toss to see if the girl I like actually likes me back." He shrugged casually, as if he did it every year. But inside, he was shaking with anxiety. Gabriella's heart wilted again, but she managed to keep her physical appearance laid-back.

"That's cool." She added flatly. Troy looked at her.

"Are you okay? You seem kinda spacey."

"I'm fine," Gabriella sighed, "It's just, everyone here is dressed up and looking amazing, and I'm dressed the same as normal. Girls have those days when they don't feel pretty or whatever." She crossed her arms again and leaned against the lockers. A lock of very wavy brown hair fell into her worried brown eyes. "Am I, Troy? Am I as pretty as those other girls?"

"Gabriella," he smiled softly at her, "Believe me when I say, you're the prettiest girl I know."

--

Sharpay narcissistically tossed her long blonde curls over her shoulder in a huff. Her feet scuffed up the tile floor below her red stilettos, as she scurried towards the auditorium. Her audacious attire consisted of a sparkling, sequined halter top and a medium-length white skirt that fell an inch or two above her kneecap. Her over expressive strut down the corridor only flaunted her vain nature, complete with the catwalk-runway model gaze -- vacant and dazed. She brusquely pushed the cherry red doors to the gymnasium open and stared up at the crowded bleachers, knowing full well that of course _anyone _would give their seat up to someone of her, well, status.

With a Kate Spade handbag dangling from her thin wrist, Sharpay pushed her way through the crowd and finally into a row with a devoided seat, and neatly lowered herself down into it. She smoothed out the skirt over her thighs and smiled a dangerous mix between egotistical yet playful kitten, to a lust-driven vixen ceasing her chance with Troy Bolton.

Loud drums began to ring throughout the gym as the band entered, loudly playing the school's upbeat anthem. Soon after the band members filed neatly through the double doors, the rowdy basketball team came running out -- whooping and clapping along to the beat. Other boys from the various clubs entered as well, not as hyper as the basketball team, but still enthusiastic enough. The girls in the crowd cheered and screamed noisily. The band's music faded to a stop when Principal Matsui entered the court holding a microphone. "Excuse me. Excuse me!" he shouted over the chatter of everyone. The sound came to an abrupt stop.

"Welcome, East High. As you know, today is Valentine's Day. Normally, schools are prohibited from displaying any sign of affection -- teachers or student, we call it PDA. However, Saint Valentine was indeed a Saint, and therefore, for educational beliefs we do let you students enjoy the holiday. So girls, get your basketballs and Sharpays--er, _Sharpies _ready,"

Sharpay's bangles clanged together as she upsetedly crossed her arms.

"For the East High 'Love Note Toss'. Ready, get set, throw!" Principal Matsui made a stage exit from the center court, and the first of the basketballs began to fly from the bleachers. They were small, plush basketballs, each maybe five inches in diameter, with a note written in Sharpie on the front. Usually, the basketball would say something along the lines of, '_Name loves Name'_, with a tiny heart in the corner. The girls would only receive _one _basketball to toss, and before they did, they would give it a quick kiss, as a symbol of good luck to finding who it was supposed to go to.

The boys on the court would scramble around, picking up basketballs and whooping when it was something embarrassing. Then, they'd find who it belonged to and gave it to the person. Many of the boys thought if you found your own basketball without anyone giving it to you, then that meant either you'd get with that person or stay with that person. It was also considered a bad sign when you didn't receive a basketball love note at all.

Quite a few basketballs were made out to Troy, '_Tiffany loves Troy', 'Emily loves Troy', 'Lauren loves Troy', _and as bad as Troy felt about simply ignoring the basketballs, he was really only looking for the right girl. Maybe that girl in science class, Katie, would toss a basketball down to him. Suddenly, Chad ran up to him, breathing heavily. He shoved the orange ball into Troy's face and demanded that he read it.

" Taylor loves Chad." Troy announced unamusedly, tossing the basketball back to Chad. "Dude, everyone already knows that she totally digs you. And you like her. So go for it." he offered a smile to his best friend. Chad pumped his arms in the air and held the basketball close to him. Rolling his eyes, Troy looked up into the crowd and saw Taylor, giving herself a congratulatory hug.

Out of nowhere, a very unique basketball dropped to his feet. It was light pink rather than dreamcicle orange, and instead of black Sharpie, the note was written in lime green, pompous script. Troy prayed it was who he was hoping for, gave the basketball a squeeze, and looked down at it. '_Sharpay loves __Troy_was almost illegibly scribbled across the ball.

Frustrated and slightly embarrassed, he tossed the basketball aside and waited for the orange rain to cease its downpour. The amount of falling balls decreased in numbers, and slowly came to a halt. There were many unclaimed basketballs on the ground. Troy knew (he tried to make it sound humble in his head) that most of the basketballs were for him, but he ignored them and pitifully watched the lonely, girlfriend-less nerds look at the basketballs. The boys were called to the side of the court, and Mr. Matsui began to make his way towards the center of the gym again.

He stopped a third of the way there when a loud creaking noise echoed through the gymnasium. Someone was pushing open the crimson doors. Light clacking sounds took the place of the creak, as every head in the gym turned to look at the entrance. There stood a very nervous looking Gabriella, dressed in her beautiful red dress. Her hair, unlike most of East High, was straightened but otherwise left alone. Her bare neck was embellished with a glimmering crystal pendant that reflected the bright lights.

The whole room was silent with anticipation as Gabriella cocked her head to look at Troy on the sidelines. Troy began to walk out to the center circle, as Gabriella began her slow amble towards him again. Each footstep was a heartbeat for her, for him, and for the school, and no one dared try to stop them, not even Principal Matsui, who was now retreating back to the sidelines. After what seemed like forever, Gabriella stood still in front of Troy, about 10 inches from him.

Blinking innocently, a smile tugged at the corners of her glossed lips. She took a step back and outstretched her arms, in an offering sort of way. Troy was still studying her facial feature carefully, trying to interpret if this was a dream and if his alarm would wake him up at any second. But her sincere smile showed no signs of being fake. Nothing was flawed, however. Her teeth were sparkling white and her lips curved in just the right places. Her already dark eyes turns darker as her smile deepens, and even her nose seems to scrunch in just the right way.

Noticing that she was offering him something, he looks down at her hands and took the bestowal from her gently. He ran his hand over the soft surface of it, still searching for a glitch in his 'dream', for surely, this couldn't be real. Was Gabriella as courageous as she seemed? Apparently, she was enough so to give him this in front of the whole school. For a split second, everyone in the gym lost their breath as Troy looked down at the gift. He turned it over and looked at the front. And it was all there, the only thing he needed for proof to know he's not dreaming was written in dainty, black-inked script.

'_Gabriella loves __Troy_'

--

STORY REQUEST  
**Three things you want your fic to include:** Red converse (don't ask, XD), a red journal belonging to Gabriella, a basketball that has a love note WRITTEN on it. (occuring at school)  
**Two common cliches you don't want:** Obliviousness (is that a word?), having things go terribly wrong

That was what Amandeezy requested. I hope I got everything! Thanks for reading, and please leave me a little love note. (:


End file.
